UC-NRLF 


CD 
>- 


GIFT   OF 


A  GUIDE 

FOR  WRITING 

iOCIAL  SCIENCE 

"PAPERS" 


BY 


EMORY  S.  BOGARDUS 

Department  of  Sociology 
University  of  Southern  California 


UNIVERSITY  OF  SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA  PRESS 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA 

1918 


A  GUIDE 

FOR  WRITING 

SOCIAL  SCIENCE 

"PAPERS" 


BY 


EMORY  S.  BOGARDUS 

Department  of  Sociology 
University  of  Southern  California 


UNIVERSITY  OF  SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA  PRESS 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA 

1918 


Copyright  1918 

University  of  Southern  California  Press 
Los  Angeles 


ft  nr 


A  GUIDE  FOR  WRITING 
SOCIAL   SCIENCE   "PAPERS" 

By  EMORY  S.  BOGARDUS 

Department  of  Sociology,  University  of  Southern  California 


I.  Why  write  social  science  "papers"? 

II.  How  to  choose  the  topic. 

III.  How  to  make  the  outline. 

IV.  How  to  gather  materials. 

V.  Suggestions  concerning  form. 

VI.  Suggestions  regarding  content. 


I.  Why  write  social  science  "papers"?  Social 
science  "papers"  are  assigned  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  the  student  an  opportunity  to  develop  his 
thinking  abilities,  to  express  his  individuality,  to 
show  originality,  in  short,  to  do  an  independent 
piece  of  work.1  A  second  and  equally  important 
aim  is  that  of  helping  the  student  to  acquire  stand- 
ard methods  in  writing  social  science  "papers." 

Semester  or  year  "papers"  are  not  assigned  by 
instructors,  as  the  freshman  or  sophomore  some- 
times declares,  simply  to  make  the  student  work, 

1.  Quality  is  always  of  greater  importance,  of  course, 
than  quantity. 


392R70 


to  give  him  ar>  unpleasant  task,  or  for  conventional 
reasons.  Behind  the  assignment  is  a  purpose  sin- 
cere and  true  which  has  in  mind  the  student's 
own  advancement. 

II.  How  to  choose  a  topic.  In  response  to  the 
frequently  recurrent  request:  "You  suggest  a  topic 
for  me  to  write  on,"  the  instructor  will  usually 
refuse.  A  student  who  is  approaching  maturity — 
even  though  he  has  had  only  an  introduction  of  a 
few  weeks  to  social  science — must  have  given  a  lit- 
tle thought  from  time  to  time  to  a  few,  at  least,  of 
the  pressing  social  issues  of  the  day.  If  the  in- 
structor chooses  a  topic  for  a  student  whom  he 
only  recently  has  met,  it  may  be  a  question  en- 
tirely outside  of  the  range  of  that  person's  inter- 
ests; if  the  student  makes  the  choice,  carefully 
guarding  himself  against  selecting  one  that  appeals 
merely  to  his  passing  fancy,  he  will  have  a  prob- 
lem for  investigation  that  lies  within  the  bound- 
aries of  his  past  thinking,  and  hence  one  upon 
which  he  will  be  able,  probably,  to  do  his  best 
work.  Furthermore,  he  will  have  relied  upon  and 
exercised  his  own  mentality,  rather  than  have 
leaned  upon  the  aid  of  another. 

The  student,  hence,  should  search  his  own  mind 
for  suitable  themes,  with  the  aid  of  such  hints  as 
he  may  gather  for  himself  from  the  class  discus- 
sions, the  introductory  lectures  in  the  course  of 
study,  and  the  text-book  and  collateral  books  in  the 

4 


field  in  which  the  " paper''  has  been  assigned. 
Such  an  exercise  will  suggest  many  problems  that 
will  challenge  the  student's  attention,  intellectual 
curiosity,  and  interests.  If  three  or  more  of  these 
questions  are  accurately  worded  and  written  out 
in  topical  form,  the  student  will  have  mastered  the 
first  step  in  attaining  skill  in  the  social  science 
field.  The  mere  formulating  in  words  and  on  pa- 
per of  such  topics  invariably  results  in  progress. 

With  the  student's  list  of  carefully  framed  topics 
before  him,  the  work  of  the  instructor  begins.  The 
teacher  will  point  out  which  of  the  suggested  prob- 
lems will  be  best  for  the  student  to  work  upon, 
or  he  may  suggest  changes  in  the  phraseology  of 
some  one  of  the  themes  which  will  make  it  prac- 
ticable. 

There  are  three  main  classes  of  problems  for 
"papers":  (1)  library  subjects;  (2)  field  subjects; 
and  (3)  theoretical  subjects, — these  are  not  dif- 
ferent types,  but  various  stages  on  an  ascending 
scale  of  difficulty  and  importance.  (1)  For  a  be- 
ginner, the  library  topic  is  the  most  logical;  the 
material  is  usually  near  at  hand  and  easy  to  ob- 
tain. The  best  data  are  to  be  found  in  a  few 
books  and  magazines;  and  the  time  of  the  student 
is  conserved,  because  within  a  few  steps  of  the 
study  table  in  the  library  is  the  full  equipment. 
In  general,  before  one  should  think  of  doing  field 
work,  he  must  acquaint  himself  with  the  written 
studies  on  the  particular  problem,  with  the  back- 

5 


grounds  of  the  problem,  and  with  the  technique 
for  undertaking  first-hand  investigations.  Towards 
this  goal,  library  subjects  lead. 

(2)  Field  work  calls  for  maturity  of  judgment 
and  poise  in  meeting  persons  of  experience.  Em- 
ployers and  employees,  landlords  and  tenants,  na- 
tives and  aliens  must  be  met  and  disarmed  of  sus- 
picion, and  given  favorable  impressions,  or  the  in- 
quiry will  fail.  A  large  range  of  secondary  but 
vital  issues  continually  arises  which  must  be  met 
with  despatch.  The  persons  under  investigation, 
or  who  are  the  guardians  of  facts  which  are  under 
examination,  are  often  offended  by  a  single  naive 
question  or  remark  by  the  well-intentioned  but  un- 
sophisticated inquirer ;  as  a  result,  the  investigation 
comes  to  naught  and  an  unwholesome  impression 
is  given  of  social  science. 

Field  subjects  should  be  chosen  only  by  persons 
who  are  versatile  in  methods,  who  have  plenty  of 
time,  or  who  have  special  credentials  or  entree, — 
that  is  to  say,  who  have  willing  friends  or  relatives 
who  are  or  have  been  employed  in  the  proposed 
field  of  study,  or  who  themselves  are  or  have  been 
so  engaged.  Not  until  the  post-graduate  year,  or 
in  exceptional  cases,  the  senior  year,  should  one 
contemplate  field  work.  Through  the  exercise  of  a 
trained  judgment  and  of  long  and  patient  seeking 
for  and  verification  of  data,  new  facts  will  be  dis- 
covered, old  theories  disproved,  and  new  ones 
established. 

6 


(3)  The  analysis  of  advanced  theoretical  topics 
in  social  science  requires  a  thorough  preparation 
in  the  study  of  the  direct  and  the  foundational 
literature,  a  knowledge  of  first-hand  facts,  an  ac- 
quaintance with  every-day  personal  and  institu- 
tional life,  and  a  sympathetic  touch  with  the  feel- 
ings, thoughts,  and  volitions  of  the  common  people. 
Such  studies  call  for  thought  involving  analysis, 
criticism,  and  synthesis.  Only  minds  with  trained, 
fertile,  and  original  characteristics  should  enter 
here.  The  findings  occasionally  lead  to  improve- 
ments in  social  procedure.  This  type  of  investiga- 
tion, like  field  work,  often  produces  results  that 
are  worthy  of  publication  in  the  social  science 
journals. 

The  novice  then  should  choose  a  library  topic, 
but  in  so  doing  he  will  be  prone  to  select  one 
of  too  general  and  too  broad  a  nature.  Conse- 
quently, the  materials  are  illimitable  and  bewilder- 
ingly  complex;  the  student  is  swamped.  He  be- 
comes discouraged,  loses  himself  in  the  mass  of 
details,  or  merely  skims  the  surface  and  produces 
a  superficial  " paper. "  " Child  Welfare"  is  a 
theme  which  is  too  extensive ;  ' '  Child  Welfare  in 
the  United  States"  is  likewise  too  far-reaching, 
These  and  other  comprehensive  subjects  may  be 
modified  and  narrowed  satisfactorily  in  scope. 
"The  Effects  of  Child  Labor,"  "The  Causes  of 
Juvenile  Delinquency,"  "The  George  Junior  Re- 
public Idea,"  or  "The  Social  Advantages  of  Rural 

7 


Life"  will  serve  as  illustrations  of  practicable  top- 
ics for  ' 'papers.7' 

Later,  when  the  student  has  reached  his  post- 
graduate year,  for  example,  he  may  seek  to  deter- 
mine the  causes  of  delinquency  among  100  boys 
who  have  appeared  in  the  local  juvenile  court 
(field  subject),  or  still  later,  he  may  work  out  an 
educational  theory  for  decreasing  juvenile  delin- 
quency (theoretical  subject). 

III.  How  to  make  an  outline.  "I  always  write 
my  paper  first  and  the  outline  last/'  said  a  col- 
lege student  recently,  with  an  evident  degree  of 
pride.  But  such  a  method  is  not  to  be  encouraged. 
It  indicates,  perhaps,  the  work  of  a  genius;  or, 
more  likely,  of  an  unharnessed,  slatternly  mind. 

After  the  topic  has  been  determined  upon,  the 
pupil  should  force  himself — at  first,  it  will  be  an 
effort — to  inventory  his  own  mind  upon  the  sub- 
ject which  has  been  chosen;  if  it  is  one  in  which 
he  has  been  interested  for  some  time,  the  number 
of  ideas  that  he  has  unconsciously,  inchoately  ac- 
cumulated upon  the  question,  will  upon  examina- 
tion prove  to  be  amazing.  These  miscellaneous 
thoughts  should  be  arranged  in  some  kind  of  order ; 
the  resultant  outline  will  be  preliminary,  unsatis- 
factory, and  subject  to  change,  but  will  more  than 
repay  the  effort. 

The  next  step  is  that  of  reading  and  of  asking 
questions  on  the  problem.  Then,  the  outline  should 

8 


be  revised;  changes  and  improvements  will  occur. 
It  is  surprising  how  often  the  mere  mechanical 
copying  of  an  outline,  if  one  does  it  thoughtfully, 
will  start  the  processes  of  thought  to  work  and 
materialize  in  valuable  modifications. 

No  outline  is  ever  more  than  tentative;  when  it 
is  drawn  up  finally  and  the  "paper"  is  written 
according  to  its  plan,  it  will  likely  prove,  even  then, 
inadequate.  The  outline  is  an  instrument  of  rela- 
tive value, — moving  presumably  from  improvement 
to  improvement.  It  serves  the  purposes  of  an  or- 
ganized survey  at  each  step  of  one's  thinking  on 
the  problem  in  mind;  it  represents  at  each  stage 
in  its  development  the  best  plan  of  attack. 

The  interactions  between  the  outline  and  one's 
materials  on  a  question  are  continual  and  pro- 
gressive :  to  make  or  reconstruct  the  outline  sug- 
gests new  ideas  for  the  text  of  the  "  paper ";  to 
write  sections  of  the  text  gives  rise  to  novel  and 
improved  changes  in  the  outline.  It  is  this  give- 
and-take  between  outline  and  content  that  spells 
progress.  The  outline  is  never  completed;  it  is 
never  an  end  in  itself ;  it  is  always  '  *  in  process, ' '  a 
means,  a  tool  for  stimulating  organization  and  in- 
vention, and  an  instrument  for  making  progress  in 
writing. 

IV.  How  to  gather  materials.  The  present 
writer,  after  experimenting  in  several  directions, 
has  found  that  a  duplex  system  for  gathering  ma- 

9 


terials  works  best.  Such  a  system  involves  (a) 
cards,  preferably  3x5  inches  in  size,  and  (b)  a 
loose-leaf  note-book  carrying  paper  of  letter  size 
(8J/2  x  11  inches).  Cards  of  one  color  are  used 
for  collecting  bibliographic  references;  cards  of 
another  color  are  useful  for  noting  ideas  and  sug- 
gestions that  come  to  one  miscellaneously  and 
which  call  for  small  space.  The  bibliographic 
references  should  be  written  in  a  uniform  style. 
References,  to  books  and  documents  may  be  made 
in  the  following  order:  Author's  name,  his  ini- 
tials, title  of  book  underscored,  publisher's  name, 
place  and  date  of  publication,  chapters  or  pages  of 
the  related  material.  If  the  reference  is  to  an 
article,  the  order  may  be  the  following:  Author's 
name,  his  initials,  title  of  article  in  quotation 
marks,  name  of  magazine  abbreviated  and  under- 
scored, volume  of  magazine  and  pages  of  the  arti- 
cle. If  the  magazine  is  current,  or  unbound,  ref- 
erence to  it  should  be  made  by  date  and  pages. 
(Illustrations  of  the  three  types  of  references  are 
given  in  footnotes  two,  three,  and  four.  Careful 
attention  should  be  given  to  accuracy  and  uniform- 
ity in  punctuation.) 


2.  Ely,   R.   T.,   Outlines   of  Economics,    (Macmillan: 
New  York),  1917,  Chs.  III.,  IV.,  (or  pp.  33-60). 

3.  Blackmar,  F.  W.,  "Leadership  in  Social  Reform," 
Amer.  Jour,  of  Sociology,  XVI:  626-33. 

4.  Howard,  G.  B.,  "Alcohol  and  Crime:    A  Study  in 
Social  Causation,"  Amer.  Jour,  of  Sociology,  July,  1918, 
pp.  61-80. 

10 


The  bibliographic  cards  should  be  kept  in  an 
alphabetical  order;  and  from  them,  the  final  bib- 
liography can  be  made  with  a  minimum  of  effort. 
The  other  cards  should  be  arranged  according  to 
the  main  headings  of  the  outline;  thus,  related 
materials  will  be  thrown  together.  The  loose-leaf 
note-book  will  serve  for  making  extensive  digests, 
for  copying  long  excerpts,  for  keeping  "  clippings " 
in  pasted  form,  and  for  use  in  writing  the  various 
drafts  of  the/' paper, "  section  by  section;  it  should 
be  provided  with  indexes  (these  may  be  hand- 
made) for  subdividing  the  divisions  of  the  "pa- 
per" according  to  the  plan  of  the  outline. 

Cards  are  by  all  means  advisable  in  making 
bibliographies;  they  are  of  convenient  size;  they 
can  be  handled  with  ease;  they  can  be  kept  ac- 
cording to  an  alphabetical  arrangement.  But  they 
are  too  small  for  copying  voluminous  data.  Simi- 
larly, the  note-book  paper  is  too  large — and  waste- 
ful— when  the  bibliography  is  being  made  or  when 
single  and  isolated  facts  are  being  noted.  In  the 
long  run,  the  duplex  system  is  more  satisfactory 
than  either  the  cards  or  the  paper  of  letter  size 
alone. 

The  making  of  the  bibliography  is  very  impor- 
tant ;  it  bears  on  its  face  the  tell-tale  degree  to 
which  the  author  has  been  careless,  or  thorough. 
A  successfully  made  bibliography  calls  for  patient, 
skillful,  and  consistent  effort ;  it  is  a  worth-while 
achievement  to  bring  together  the  leading  refer- 

11 


ences  to  everything  of  value  that  have  appeared  in 
print  on  a  subject ;  it  gives  the  original  thinker  a 
prominent  camping  ground  from  which  to  climb  to 
hitherto  unexplored  regions  of  thought. 

The  first  place  in  which  to  search  for  biblio- 
graphic data  is  in  the  card  catalogues  of  the 
libraries, — college,  city,  and  special;  these  will 
give  access  to  books  and  documents.  The  second 
store-house  that  has  been  prepared  in  order  to  sim- 
plify the  work  of  the  student  in  any  field  is  the 
series  of  volumes  known  as  the  Reader's  Guide,  (for 
articles  that  were  published  several  years  ago,  see 
Poole's  Index}.  A  library  assistant  will  explain 
to  the  uninitiated  the  use  of  these  convenient  ref- 
erence series. 

Often  the  inquirer  will  find  himself  swamped 
by  the  large  number  of  references  to  articles  in 
the  Reader's  Guide,  upon  his  topic;  but  he  can 
soon  acquire  facility  in  detecting  the  metal-laden 
ores.  He  should  center  attention  upon  those  arti- 
cles which  have  been  printed  in  the  standard  social 
science  journals,  such  as:  the  American  Journal 
of  Sociology,  the  Economic  Journal,  the  American 
Historical  Review,  the  Political  Science  Quarterly, 
the  International  Journal  of  Ethics,  the  American 
Journal  of  Theology — the  list  is  long.  The  stu- 
dent can  obtain  the  rating  of  a  journal  by  inquir- 
ing of  his  instructor;  and  his  own  experience  in 
the  use  of  journals  will  develop  his  ability  to  judge 
of  values.  Judicious  use  should  be  made  of  that 

12 


class  of  magazines  which  are  semi-scientific  and 
semi-popular,  such  as:  the  North  American  Re- 
view, the  World's  Work,  the  Outlook,  the  Inde- 
pendent. The  student  of  elementary  applied  so- 
ciology will  find  the  Survey  to  be  his  most  useful 
mine  of  current  information.  Articles  of  one  or 
two  pages  in  length  only,  articles  of  any  length  in 
the  newspapers  and  the  popular  weeklies,  unsigned 
articles  and  editorials  should  be  treated  with  cau- 
tion and  careful  scrutiny.5 

As  the  student  proceeds  in  making  reading  ac- 
quaintances, he  should  note  and  examine  articles 
by  the  standard  authorities,  in  the  various  social 
science  fields.  For  example,  in  sociology  proper, 
articles  bearing  the  signatures  of  Giddings,  Small, 
Eoss,  Howard.  Blackmar,  Cooley,  Ellwood,  Dealey, 
Gillette,  Hayes,  or  others  of  similar  high  standing, 
will  instantly  command  attention.  Other  names 
will  come  to  signify  peculiar  biases  or  unreliability. 
The  student  must  learn  to  digest  well  and  at  all 
times  the  writings  of  others,  even  of  authorities. 
He  must  never  accept  ideas  uncritically. 

V.  Suggestions  concerning  form.  The  final 
draft  of  the  '  '  paper "  should  be  submitted  to  the 
instructor  in  legible  hand-writing  or  in  typewrit- 
ing with  margins  of  at  least  one  and  one-quarter 


5.  Occasionally,  however,  a  brief,  unsigned  article  or 
editorial  of  a  page  or  less  in  length  will  contain  a  new 
Idea  of  first  magnitude;  length  is  not  necessarily  a  cri- 
terion of  quality. 

13 


inches  at  the  top  and  on  the  left-hand  side,  and  of 
one-half  inch  at  the  bottom  of  the  pages.  Prefer- 
ably the  paper  should  be  of  letter  size  (8>4xll 
inches).  It  is  not  necessary  to  have  the  study 
typewritten;  legible  hand-writing  in  ink,  done 
neatly,  with  uniformity,  and  without  hurry,  will 
meet  ordinary  requirements.  Only  one  side  of  the 
paper  should  be  written  upon.  Typewritten  ma- 
terial should  be  "double-spaced,"  except  where 
several  lines  are  quoted,  when  "single  spacing " 
becomes  the  rule.  A  substantial  quality  of  paper 
should  always  be  chosen. 

The  title-page  should  give  the  title  (capitalized) 
of  the  "paper,"  the  name  and  number  of  the 
course  for  which  the  "paper"  is  written,  the  name 
of  the  institution  and  the  date  of  finishing  the 
work,  in  a  well-balanced  form,  as  follows : 

THE  SOCIAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  RURAL  LIFE 

By  John  Jones 

Written  for  Sociology  118   (Rural  Sociology) 

University  of  Southern  California 

Instructor,  H.  J.  McClean 

May  10,  1917 

The  table  of  contents  should  follow  the  title 
page;  for  a  "paper"  of  2500  words,  it  should  not 
cover  more  than  two  or  three  pages.  It  should 
state  the  main  headings  and  two  or  more  sub- 
headings under  each  of  the  major  points.  A  form 
for  a  table  of  contents  for  the  topic :  ' '  The  Social 

14 


Advantages    of   Rural   Life, "    is   presented   here- 
with; variations  should  be  made  freely. 

CONTENTS 

(1)  Introduction 

(a)  Reasons  for  choosing  the  topic 

(b)  Scope  of  the  field 

(2)  Advantages  of  Outdoor  Living 

(a)  Physical  health  conserved 

(b)  Nerves  remain  un jaded 

(3)  Advantages  of  Rural  Family  Life 

(a)  Unified  home  lite 

(b)  Sane  training  for  children 

(4)  Influences  on  Development  of  Personality 

(a)  Freedom  from  social  conventions 

(b)  Opportunities  for  leadership 

(5)  Conclusions 

In  writing  the  "  paper, "  each  leading  section 
should  be  introduced  by  its  proper  heading — ac- 
cording to  the  outline — and  be  separated  by  at 
least  an  inch  of  space  from  the  end  of  the  pre- 
ceding main  divisions.  If  the  student  were  pre- 
paring a  thesis, — introductory  or  elementary  "  pa- 
pers "  in  social  science  are  hardly  worthy  of  the 
title  of  "thesis" — it  would  be  well  to  begin  each 
major  section  at  the  top  of  the  first  right-hand 
page  following  the  end  of  the  preceding  section, 

6.  The  present  writer  has  received  "papers"  in  which 
the  table  of  contents  extended  over  six  pages  and  the 
main  text,  ten  pages;  such  a  proportion  must  be  avoided. 

15 


and  to  give  also  the  sub-headings  in  their  proper 
places. 

Special  effort  should  be  made  to  give  credit  to 
the  authorities  that  are  quoted  or  cited.  When- 
ever the  conclusions  of  some  authority  are  quoted 
or  facts  from  some  special  piece  of  research  are 
used,  a  small  Arabic  numeral  should  be  placed  at 
the  end  of  the  quotation  or  citation,  slightly  ele- 
vated, and  repeated  at  the  foot  of  the  page — see 
the  illustrations  in  this  printed  set  of  directions, 
or  in  any  of  the  social  science  journals  and  books. 
The  footnote  should  be  set  off  from  the  text  above 
it,  either  by  an  extra  space  or  by  a  heavy  line. 
As  a  rule,  the  footnote  explanation  should  give  the 
name  of  the  authority  who  is  quoted  or  cited,  the 
title  of  the  book,  underscored  (or  of  the  article, 
and  of  the  magazine,  abbreviated  and  under- 
scored), and  the  pages.  If  the  name  of  the  au- 
thority is  mentioned  in  the  text  of  the  "paper," 
it  need  not  be  repeated  in  the  footnote.  If  refer- 
ence is  made  a  second  or  third  time  to  a  particular 
book  or  article  in  immediate  succession,  the  abbre- 
viation, ibid.,  underscored,  together  with  the  num- 
bers of  the  new  pages,  should  appear;  it  is  not 
necessary  to  repeat  the  whole  reference  in  the 
footnote.  Explanations  and  rules  similar  to  those 
given  in  the  foregoing  lines  should  be  learned  by 
the  student;  he  should  consult  the  footnote  forms 
used  in  standard  works,  such  as  Ely's  Outlines  of 
Economics,  or  Blackmar  and  Gillin's  Outlines  of 

16 


Sociology.  Further  assistance  can  be  had  by  con- 
sulting frequently  such  an  invaluable  guide-book  as 
A  Manual  for  Writers.7 

A  constant  aim  should  be  to  attain  accuracy  in 
punctuation,  in  spelling,  in  syllabication,  in  para- 
graphing ,and  in  choice  of  words.  No  pains  should 
be  spared  to  settle  all  doubtful  points  by  consult- 
ing A  Manual  for  Writers,  referred  to  in  the  pre- 
ceding paragraph  (or  a  similar  book),  a  book  of 
synonyms,  or  a  dictionary. 

The  bibliography  should  be  given  at  the  close 
of  the  "  paper, "  arranged  according  to  the  sur- 
names of  the  authors  in  alphabetical  order.  The 
general  sequence  in  the  "paper"  should  be: 

1.  Title  Page 

2.  Table  of  Contents 

3.  Text  of  the  "Paper" 

4.  Bibliography 

The  manuscript  should  be  enclosed  in  an  appro- 
priate cardboard  cover,  bearing  the  name  of  the 
student,  the  title  of  the  course  of  study,  and  the 
name  of  the  instructor. 

VI.  Suggestions  concerning  the  content.  In 
beginning  the  final  draft,  it  is  wise  to  have  a  quiet 
place  in  which  to  work, — where  no  one  will  inter- 
rupt. The  mind  cannot  do  its  best  and  most 
original  work  beset  by  the  constant  hum  of  con- 
versation, or  by  the  disturbing  activities  of  others. 


7.    By  Manly  and  Powell,  The  University  of  Chicago 
Press,  1917. 

17 


The  brain  produces  its  best  work  when  least  likely 
to  be  disturbed.  Only  work  such  as  copying  or 
attending  to  relatively  unessential  details  should 
be  undertaken  in  an  environment  of  noise  and 
interruptions. 

Before  the  final  writing  is  begun,  it  is  well  to 
have  the  work  in  such  a  shape  that  it  can  be  laid 
aside  and  practically  forgotten  for  two  or  more 
weeks.  When  it  is  taken  up  after  the  interim  the 
mind  will  bring  to  it  a  surprising  degree  of  fresh 
criticism;  unsuspected  errors  will  be  recognized, 
and  new  points  will  occur  to  the  student.  Further, 
this  precaution  protects  one  against  growing 
"  stale  "  on  the  subject. 

The  introductory  paragraphs  should  be  brief. 
The  writer  should  not  allow  himself  to  ramble  on 
at  length  at  the  start;  he  should  state  concisely  in 
brisk  sentences,  the  points  that  are  necessary  for 
an  understanding  of  the  material  that  is  to  follow. 
Nothing  bores  or  prejudices  a  reader  like  a  drawn- 
out  introduction. 

Throughout,  "  padding "  should  be  studiously 
shunned.  A  straight-forward,  natural,  progressive 
style  should  be  developed.  Variety  in  choice  of 
words  should  be  cultivated;  the  use  of  flowery 
language  should  be  avoided.  Pride  should  be  taken 
in  developing  a  clear,  effective  style,  in  introducing 
new  words,  similes  and  other  figures  of  speech, 
providing  the  variations  are  natural  and  fitting. 
No  hesitation  should  ever  be  shown  in  re-writing 

18 


several  times  particularly  difficult  paragraphs ;  im- 
provement will  probably  accompany  each  revision. 
Sometimes  one's  best  ideas  arise  only  when  he  is 
engaged  in  actual  writing. 

A  high  degree  of  satisfaction  comes  from  original 
work.  The  average  student  is  not  simply  an 
imitator;  he  is  a  potential,  if  not  an  actual 
"  inventor. ' '  It  is  not  necessary  for  him  con- 
tinually to  bemoan  the  fate  that  he  is  not  a  "  born- 
genius.  "  He  is  not  obliged  to  live  in  other  peo- 
ple 's  minds.  Originality,  invention,  creation  should 
be  his  goal.  The  student  should  never  be  satisfied 
with  doing  merely  good  work;  nothing  less  than 
his  best  should  satisfy  him,  and  that  only  tem- 
porarily, for  what  is  his  best  today  may  be  his 
second-class  work  tomorrow.  His  possibilities  in 
the  direction  of  originality,  he  may  have  never 
surmised. 

The  text  of  the  "paper"  should  build  fact  upon 
fact  in  as  logical  order  as  possible.  The  truth 
must  never  be  strained  for  the  sake  of  effect.  In 
general,  a  climactic  order  should  be  established ;  at 
least  those  climaxes  should  be  built  up  which  are 
inherent  in  the  natural  sequence  of  facts.  When- 
ever the  writer  feels  reasonably  sure  of  his  ground, 
he  should  criticise  his  materials,  favorably  and 
unfavorably;  at  every  turn,  he  should  become 
master  of  his  data. 

The  closing  paragraphs  may  include  a  brief 
summary  of  the  territory  that  has  been  covered. 

19 


Here  the  writer's  final  conclusions — in  one,  two, 
three  order,  if  he  wishes — may  be  added.  At  this 
point,  occurs  the  writer's  supreme  opportunity  for 
manifesting  his  ability.  An  ultimate  goal  of  every 
writer  of  social  science  "papers"  should  be  to 
produce  a  piece  of  work  worthy  of  publishing,  of 
putting  into  permanent  form  of  print,  of  giving 
to  the  world. 


20 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $I.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


MAY  20  1935 


•TftM/w'fi; 

*£OnwV  ^* 


any  ?  c  19D2 


LD  21-100m-8,'34 


Caylord  Bros. 


Makers 
Syracuse.  N.  Y.     ] 


PAT.  JAN.21,  1908 


392670 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


